Not Jeff Bezos Or Elon Musk, These 11 People Are The Richest People In Human History (2023)

Everyone wants to be rich and earn big bucks and be listed on the world's richest people list. Money doesn't make you rich in a holistic sense, and a crown of gold won't fill the hole in your heart, but people across the world will always remember you if you're rich.

The richest persons today are Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, with billions of dollars each in their pockets. Yes! It's huge so much so that we tell ourselves that no one has ever reached such a level of wealth. However, if we look into the past, and try to take inflation into account, we can see that there have been even richer men whose fortunes accounted world's half of the world's GDP.

Here are the richest people in history:

1. Mansa Musa (1280-1337) - Wealth incalculable

Illustration by tim obrier

Mansa Moussa, who ruled the Malian Empire, lived from 1280 to 1337 considered the richest man of all time. Indeed, he knew how to conquer Timbuktu and extend his empire to Niger and therefore the most important trade routes of the trans-Saharan trade. He lived from 1280 to 1337 and is considered the king of Timbuktu because of his influence on the city's commerce and culture. He also owned the Bambuk gold mines which account for more than 50 per cent of world supply today. Its territory produced half of the world's gold stock. So it is not hard to believe that his wealth cannot be expressed in dollars, euros or any other amount or currency.

During his pilgrimage to Mecca, he took 60,000 people with him, each carrying nearly 2 kg of gold, and dozens of camels, weighing around 125 kg each, to distribute the fortune to the poor and mosques along the way.

The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five main pillars of Islam, and Mansa Musa decided to embark on Hajj in 1324-1325. But, It was not like any other journey ever witnessed. Musa quite literally paved his path to Mecca with gold and put his kingdom on the map.

2. Augustus Caesar (63 BC-AD 14) - $4.6 trillion

wikipedia

Augustus reigned over the Roman Empire from 27 BC to AD 14, after the death of his father Julius Caesar, including Egypt. He was one of the most successful leaders who led the transformation of Rome from a republic to an empire. He is the man behind the Pax Romana and was able to seize the power of a kingdom which also accounted for around 25-30% of the world's GDP at the time. In addition, he could count on a personal fortune of around $4.6 trillion.

3. Akbar I (1542-1605) - Wealth incalculable

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Akbar I, also known as Akbar the Great, was India's third Mughal emperor, from 1556 to 1605. His territory was approximately at the level of present-day India and accounted for 25% of the world's GDP. The Mughals used the mansabdar system. That is, territories over which an officer is appointed to raise income from the land.

In return for this income, the emperor may require soldiers depending on the size of the territory. These officers were not chosen hereditarily, which left Akbar a great deal of leeway. Reigning over 15 such provinces, the Empire proved extremely beneficial for the emperor for collecting taxes, which contributed to his wealth.

4. Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) - $372 billion

Wikipedia

The Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist,Andrew Carnegie built his fortune in the 19th century who died in 1919.

Andrew Carnegie left the oil industry to Rockefeller and focused on the steel industry with the Carnegie Steel Company. His fortune is estimated at $372 billion at the time. With his wealth, he built over 1,600 public libraries in the United States. In his eyes, it was important to invest in knowledge and he also injected tens of millions of dollars into American education.

Before he died, Andrew spent the last few years of his life as a philanthropist and donated 90% of his fortune to charities, universities and other organizations.

5. John D Rockefeller (1839-1937) - $341 billion

Wikipedia

During the 20th century, this famous billionaire and oil tycoon, John Davison Rockefeller controlled 90% of the flow of "black gold" (Oil). He died in 1937 at the age of 97. The creation of the Standard Oil Company, the largest oil company in the United States. During that time he owned 90% of all the oil. The company was divided into 34 small businesses. Among these still exist ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP.

John D. Rockefeller was also the first man to raise $1 billion. Converted, his fortune would come to about $341 billion dollars.

After the first world war, he has spent a lot of money for good causes and invested $250 million in his own organization, the Rockefeller Foundation.

6. Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (1868-1918) - $300 billion

Wikipedia

Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov is also known as Nicholas II the last Emperor of Russia and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He ruled the Russian empire from 1894-1917 when Bolshevik revolutionaries overthrew and murdered him and his family. In 1916, Tsar Nicolas II's net worth was nearly $900 million, which when adjusted with inflation, was equivalent to $300 billion in 2012. At $300 billion, it makes him the sixth richest human in history and since the Russian Orthodox Church canonized him, he is the richest saint in human history.

7. Mir Osman Ali Khan (1886-1967) - $230 billion

Medium

Mir Osman Ali Khan reportedly owned 50 Rolls Royces and used the diamond as a paperweight in his office. He is also known as The Nizam of Hyderabad. He was one of the seven Nizam who ruled Hyderabad until the country was invaded by neighbouring India. He had a personal gold collection that was worth over $100 million and owned over $400 million worth of jewellery, including the famous Jacob Diamond which is worth $95 million today. He also had his own public currency, the Hyderabad Rupee, as well as possessing a vast private treasure and his portrait was published on the cover of Time magazine in 1937.

His estimated net worth was around $230 billion and can be considered the richest man in Indian history.

His Majesty was a benevolent ruler who was seriously involved in promoting education to the masses, science and construction. He made primary education compulsory for all citizens. In addition, according to his decree, it was free for poor people.

8. William The Conqueror (1027-1087) - $229.5 billion

schoolhistory

William the Conqueror lived from 1028-1087 and was famous for invading and conquering England taking land and treasure from Sussex to Yorkshire and defeating Earl Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, where he became King William I. And it didn't stop there, the more kingdoms he conquers, the more he acquires wealth and that's what he had done in his whole life. When he died, he left the equivalent of $229.5 billion to his children.

9. Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011) - 200 billion

AFP

The former Libyan colonel and dictator stunned the world in 2011 after being deposed and killed by rebels. He considered himself king, exhibiting his wealth to the entire African continent, while the Libyan people lived in misery. He had exercised uncontested control over the largest oil reserves in Africa for the past 41 years where his investments helped his bank accounts to mount like crazy.

At the time of his death, the personal fortune of Gaddafi was estimated at the equivalent of about $200 billion in different banks around the world and in oil investments in the country. The aircraft of the dictator Airbus A340 M cost around $100 million and the 333-meter cruise ship Phenicia was bought in 2012 by the Italian company Mediterranean Shipping Company for $697 million.

10. Henry Ford (1863-1947) – $199 billion

AFP

American businessman and founder of the famous Ford Motor Company, Henry dictated a vision that changed the history of industrialization. He launched Ford T, one of the first cars with a gasoline engine, which would later sell 16 million copies. He attributed the “Fordism” concept to the world, which consists of producing large quantities at a low cost through an assembly line. In life, he became one of the richest men in the world, and today, we only see his legacy because he left his fortune to the care of the Ford Foundation. His fortune was estimated at $199 billion.

11. Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) – $185 billion

Wikipedia

Cornelius was a great American entrepreneur and a major philanthropist who made his fortune through the merchant marine with cargo and passenger transport on the stretches between Manhattan, Albany and New York. It was also one of the pioneers to invest in railroads during United States industrialization. It is estimated that he managed to accumulate $185 billion until his death in 1877 at the age of 82. Much of his will went to his 12 children and wife. One of the only works that remained from this legacy was the University of Vanderbilt, to which he left 1 million for its construction in memoriam. His net worth was equivalent to 1.15% of the annual GDP of the United States in 1877.

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